Activists from a union-aligned advocacy group delivered a message Thursday to a Metro board that will vote next year on city incentives that Mayor David Briley has pledged for Amazon's planned downtown Nashville hub:

Don't try to dodge or dilute new rules aimed at better transparency that the Metro Council just passed in January.

Amazon, which is in line for $15 million in Metro incentives for a new downtown center slated to bring 5,000 jobs, is one of the first two companies that by Metro law must follow new requirements outlined in the "Do Better" ordinance.

Organizers from Stand Up Nashville, which is affiliated with local labor unions and other like-minded organizations, used a public comment period to tell the Metro Industrial and Development Board on Thursday they expect the new rules to be followed.

Ordinance requires companies disclose info to get incentives

The ordinance — pushed by Stand Up Nashville and passed by a unanimous voice vote despite opposition from the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce — requires companies to disclose certain information before receiving economic incentives from Metro government.

That information includes: the number of jobs a company will bring, how many Davidson County residents it plans to hire, anticipated wages by job category, workforce development plans, and whether it has had any safety violations or wage disputes, among other workforce details.

The mayor's office intends to combine the data into a report card that will go to the Industrial Development Board and council when the incentive resolution is filed. Companies would then be required to submit annual reports showing compliance.

But some members of the board spent parts of Thursday's meeting asking whether the new rules — particularly disclosing how many hires are local — could have a negative effect on economic development in Nashville.

Amazon is bringing an operations hub to Nashville.(Photo:
AP
)

Board member asks whether rules can be amended

Board member Aubrey Gregory said the board exists for one purpose: to attract businesses into Nashville to increase employment.

"Is it possible to amend this ordinance — or whatever it is — to reflect the requirements that are there now that are maybe negative to a potential company wanting to come in to be more business-friendly to them?" he asked.

The board's scrutiny of an ordinance already approved didn't sit well with members of Stand Up Nashville, who got their chance to speak at the end of the meeting.

"The discussion around the substance of the 'Do Better' bill today really disappointed me personally," said Ethan Link, a program director of the Southeast Laborers' District Council. "Many of the folks in Nashville — it is a hard truth, but it is a truth — are feeling less and less supportive of some incentive deals because they have not seen the benefit come to their lives and their communities."

Link asked the board to "take to heart" the requirements in the ordinance — not "think of ways we can dilute this legation or ways to work around it."

AllianceBernstein another test case of new transparency law

Under the ordinance, the council has the right to suspend or terminate incentives if a company breaks its economic development agreement.

The other upcoming test case for the "Do Better" ordinance involves the investment firm AllianceBernstein, to which the Briley administration has offered a similar incentive package for 1,050 new jobs for a new Nashville headquarters. Unlike with Amazon, the mayor's office has not formally released details of those incentives.

The Amazon and AllianceBernstein incentives are expected to be formally introduced to the council for approval next year. Amazon has been offered a grant totaling $500 per job created over seven years.

Matt Wiltshire, the mayor's top economic and development chief, was asked by Gregory whether the new transparency requirements could impact whether some companies want to come to Nashville.

"There is no good answer to your question," Wiltshire said. "We have not had an incentive (deal) come before the board in the 11 months since this legislation was proposed. That is for a variety reasons. The economic conditions in Nashville have strengthened to the point where there are fewer incentives offered, not none."

Some rules difficult for companies, Nashville's ECD chief says

But Wiltshire added: "Some of the incentive offers we've made to companies have not been accepted by those companies and those companies have chosen to go to other markets. That has happened for a variety of reasons, I am certain."

He pointed to two of the requirements — disclosing how many local hires and wages in each job category — as areas that are "giving some companies some heartburn."

"I understand why that information is being requested, but for companies that is a challenging thing."

Members of Stand Up Nashville speak out during a meeting of the Metro Industrial Development Board.(Photo: Joey Garrison / The Tennessean)

Industrial Development Board Chairwoman Ginger Hausser said she believes the most difficult piece of the ordinance would be projecting how many Davidson County residents a company would hire.

"What I'm trying to figure out is how a company makes those projections," she said. "I want us to improve how we're working in communities and creating pipelines for workers. I don't want them to also be so afraid they won't make it that they low-ball it and say, 'OK, 2 percent Davidson County.' "

Councilman: Enforce current rules, amend later if necessary

"That's the piece I'm trying to get my hands around," Hausser said. "I think it could play out maybe in ways maybe in which we don't want it to play out."

<b>ANTHONY DAVIS, 2008 winner in Public Relations and Advertising and
Marketing</b><br /><i>Then</i>: Founder of iDesign
<i>Now</i>: Nashville Metro Council member and President of East Nashville
Beer Works
<br /><b><i>What advice would you give to a future emerging leader?
</i></b><br />Be patient, but move the ball forward. We all have the dream. Mine was
the brewery, and continued leadership positions, and I am never fully
"there," but I move the ball forward. Whatever your thing is, push it
forward, but maintain patience.(Photo: Submitted Photo)

East Nashville Councilman Anthony Davis, the lead sponsor of the "Do Better" ordinance, said "it's always possible to make amendments" at a later time if needed. But he said the council approved the measures so that better questions are asked on the front end of projects.

"At this point, we just want to see it implemented a couple of times," Davis said. "Let's just see how it goes.

"It's always been discussed as a balance. We don't want to scare away companies. We don't want to make the ECD office's job more difficult. This entire time has been about striking that balance of getting a lot more information and requiring these things of companies."

Reach Joey Garrison at jgarrison@tennessean.com or 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.